


All American Christmas

by Entwinedlove



Series: Twelve Days of Xover Xmas [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff, Gen, James "Bucky" Barnes/Hermione Granger/Steve Rogers (background), Multi, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark (brief mention) - Freeform, harmless prank
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 05:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17054183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entwinedlove/pseuds/Entwinedlove
Summary: Tony gets de-aged and Hermione babysits. He helps her decorate for the holiday.





	All American Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> []()

Tony understood what had happened. He knew that the Avengers had been on a mission and he had opened his helmet because something had damaged the electronic communications in his helmet and he couldn't communicate with the rest of the team. While it was open, one of the bad guys had thrown something at his head.

The next thing he knew was that his suit was too big and he'd slipped into the body of it where it had started to strangle him. He'd woken up in a bed that he hadn't recognized and might have let out a little scream—just a little one. Hermione had come running.

His first thought was that she was bigger than he was, followed by the one he voiced, "How did the tower get so big?"

She gave him a small grin like he was adorable—just for the record, he was not adorable, thank you very much—and said, "What do you remember?"

It turned out that the thing the bad guy had tossed at his head had been a de-aging potion. According to Hermione, it should wear off after about sixteen hours from application, which was eight hours ago. His suit had basically put him in a sleeper hold before Cap had gotten to him.

Tony, after making sure the clothes he was wearing weren't weird Avengers kids clothes but something of his that looked like it had been shrunk, he followed her out of the bedroom and finally realized where he was.

"Why am I in your apartment? And more importantly, did you change the sheets so I wasn't sleeping on anything the three of you might have—"

"Tony," she said, turning around where she was in the kitchen. "I know you're still you in that body but do you think you can refrain from talking about sex while you look like you're eight?" She held up her fingers about an inch apart. "It's a bit weird."

He rolled his eyes at her.

"And to answer your questions, yes the sheets were clean, and you're in our apartment because Happy had to drive Pepper to a few appointments today and they couldn't babysit. And didn't want to hire a babysitter on short notice. They're bringing dinner later."

"Babysit! I don't need a babysitter! I'm a fully-grown adult!" he shouted, though as his body was that of an eight-year-old it did sound somewhat squeaky.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Just... I don't know, play pretend. Steve is in press meetings for most of the day and I sent Bucky to get some potions ingredients in case the de-aging potion doesn't wear off."

"I thought you said—"

"In case. I wasn't there and there wasn't enough of a sample on your suit for me to determine which variation of the potion it was. You're lucky those wankers didn't brew the potion that removes memories upon de-aging. I'd rather have the ingredients on hand if the potion doesn't wear off, that's all. Now," she turned and opened the cabinet. "I had plans to bake cookies and a red velvet cake today and decorate some for Christmas around the flat. You're welcome to join me."

He inhaled heavily and then let his shoulders drop. "I want to go to my lab."

"Or your welcome to watch TV while you sulk. Though, if you choose that option, I don't know if I'll be willing to share a batch of cookies just between us. I might save them all for after dinner when Bucky, Steve, Happy, and Pepper are here."

His jaw dropped. "But... but! I'm a kid; you've got to share warm out-of-the-oven cookies with me. That's like... a rule or something!"

She didn't do a very good job of hiding her smile. "Then you'll help me bake and decorate?"

He glared at her. "I guess. Will you make me one of my smoothies?"

She opened the fridge and pulled out one of his bottles, opaque with dark green smoothie. "If you can't finish it we can always put it back in the fridge." He rolled his eyes at her again but joined her in the kitchen.

* . * . *

When it came time to decorate, Tony was surprised that she gave him almost free reign. Whatever his imagination could come up with, she seemed willing to flick her wand and conjure. He expected her to draw the line when he suggested the hideous red, white, and blue Christmas tree JARVIS had shown him when he'd ordered decorations for the lobby. She asked JARVIS to show her the picture and then recreated the look on the normal Christmas tree she'd conjured. It was just as ridiculous looking in person as it was in the picture. He really expected her to change her mind and revert it back to green.

Instead, she giggled.

It was contagious. Really. It was all her fault.

After that, green was discarded in their decorating color scheme completely to be replaced with blue and white wherever they could add it. The garland hung over the mantle was white and lit with red and blue twinkle lights. The tree skirt was red and white stripes. The star on top of the tree was white and even the ornaments were decorated like little American flags. Tony knew all of this would drive Cap batty but to irritate Barnes, he suggested that all the ornaments be covered in glitter too.

He'd seen her smile before, she was one of the more optimistic members of the Avengers team, but he'd rarely if ever seen her mischievous like this, giggling with every new patriotic addition. He doubted he would admit it to anyone but he was having a blast.

Finally, as they were pulling the last batch of cookies out and sprinkling them with red and green sprinkles—she couldn't alter the color of them, unfortunately—the door opened and both the missing super soldiers that Hermione shacked up with came inside. Cap was carrying a few packages that Barnes must have passed over to him and they were having a quiet conversation between themselves. "Hey Hermione," Barnes said as they started walking through the room, "I got all the things you had on the list for the kid—" and then they both stopped and looked around. Cap's mouth even went slack when he got to the tree.

As one, they turned and looked at Hermione. Tony did too, where he was sitting on the counter next to the stove and the cooling cookies. She'd magicked an apron over her clothes that was also red, white, and blue and she had the sweetest smile on her face. Apparently, she _was_ capable of keeping a straight face when she wanted to.

"Hi, honeys, welcome home. Tony and I just finished the last batch of cookies. Happy and Pepper should be by in half an hour with dinner."

"Did you let Tony decorate?" Cap asked.

"He's been an awesome helper for me today." Her tone was overly sweet and the smile on her face reminded him of a 50s-Stepford wife. "Do you like it?"

Cap pursed his lips and nodded, seeming to acquiesce. Barnes, on the other hand, said, "Hell, no. Can you fix it?"

Then she burst into laughter so hard that she slipped to the floor to keep giggling. Tony giggled along with her. Cap and Barnes laughed too, with Cap looking around and shaking his head. "This is what we get, isn't it? Leaving these two together," he asked Barnes.

"I don't know, I think the mantle looks nice. If it was just red or blue lights with the white garland. Same for the tree. A compromise," Barnes said.

Cap nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. White and blue—"

"—Red."

They looked at each other and broke into laughter again.

Tony had a smile on his face and was intermittently giggling. This was surreal. He'd never seen this side of any of them, laughing like idiots. It was... heartwarming... in a way. He'd never admit it, though.


End file.
